They Tried to Make Superman Cool in the Late 90s. It Wasn't Pretty.
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- čas přidán 9. 06. 2023
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I was 14 when I read this story and I totally loved it. The Superman books took a dive (for me) in 1995, but really picked my interest when he lost his powers and later changed his costume. It is worth mentioning that this change was never meant to last, they just changed it for a full year to change it back, just in time, for his 60th anniversary with that iconic Alex Ross lenticular cover.
I agree, I was 20 but I thought they should have just stuck it out and challenged the creative teams and audiences. But what did I know at 20? I vividly remember SNL's weekend update showing this also, and that Ron Frenz art. Norm MacDonald says "apparently, DC decided Superman's costume was "not Gay enough" " which had me taken aback when I saw it!
The whole Superman Blue thing was really weird and clearly not meant to last but Grant Morrison kinda nailed the way they used this version of Superman in their JLA run.They made full use of the electromagnetic powers and managed to still have Superman stand out as the big archetypal hero despite the different look and weird powers.
I do remember a Dan Jurgens interview where he said he disliked the concept (it was an editorial mandate, apparently) because the Superman writers at the time weren't even entirely sure what his new powers were meant to be.
For what it's worth, the comics from the period immediately after Superman went back to normal had some really good storylines and art.
Oh man, I was a kid back then and I thought this was cool
I guess it took a certain generation to not find that design absolutely heinous. The red is a tiny bit better for not being so washed out with a one-tone palette. And a lot of it is how it's handled, for one I even like Silver Surfer, who is so heavily contrasted with linework to go against the lack of color, almost being like a color into itself in the negative space. Same kind of thing like highlighting black leather with big, bright reflections of white light. That is what I find these largely lacking.
Some of the actual panels look good but the pin-ups are realiably jsut awful, plus impacted with me not liking the lightning bolt thing just in general. I would ahve maybe used purple lighning and skin color for the Blue with Dr. Manhattan glowing eyes when using it, and highly emphasize the white so it looks almost like a painted on Justice Lords cape. In fairness that design probably benefits from lessons learned in this one.
When you were a kid, it was cool! Part of the magic of childhood is seeing things without baggage, cynicism, or experience. This was an exciting time in comics, too.
that Scarecrow and Bane figures of the batman ad are still in my parents house... cool, I almost forgot about them
Mine too 😂
i was like between 10-13 during the whole death/return/reboot of superman and at that age i totally loved it. my dad would buy me the newest issues as soon as they released. i have the whole run from like 93-95 they're the only superman comics i own.
There was an issue of this released in Finland in the late 90s. I remember reading it and thinking, "no way will this last". I was right.
EDIT: I just realized, this was the issue I read!
Don't remember my first exposure to comics, but my first recollection is finding a beat up copy of Hero for Hire #3 in a neighbor's car trunk. I was hooked!!!
"DC version of Cable" so good
Ron Frenz is a great artist! I wasn’t reading Superman at this point, I’ll have to try and find that glow in the dark cover.
The cover is pretty dope tho and there is something to be said about this 90s cashgrab concept to be carried on in morrisons jla run and grant fully utilising the power changes
As a kid at the time I loved it. It was Superman, but he was electric, and blue! Now i just see 90s, but in the 90s i thought everything was cool. Lol
I heard these changes to Superman's look and attributes were a sneaky way for DC to keep from paying the creators' families.
"Talking heads saying nothing."
As a young teengaer I loved it. He looked bad ass. I can still tap into those vibes.
90s rip hunter the timemaster looks like dcs cable
The problem with Superman is the same as Jughead's hat. Jughead's hat was a fad in the late 40s, but he wore it for 60 years.
He stuck to it
Frenz is a great artist/storyteller. I was lucky enough to meet him back in 84 @ my school. He quickly sketched out the yet unseen black Spidey suit. Blew my effin mind.
Why he is not working for DC or Marvel baffles me.
I like this concept for a 1-2 issue arc…Doing it for years was just absurd. LOL. Especially having to use it in Grant Morrison’s awesome JLA run. It makes comics awesome though. 😂
To me, the problem with the Superman Blue era, was that there were waaay too many supporting characters taking the focus away from Superman. You had, just off the top of my head: Ashbury, Dirk Armstrong, Ron Troupe, Skorn, Bibbo, Lucy Lane, Emil Hamilton, Contessa, Maggie Sawyer, Simone DeNIege, Misa, etc. Things didn't really improve with the return of the classic costume. The creative team (Jurgens, Immonen, Simonson, etc.) had been around for just too long. When Loeb, Kelly, McGuinness, Mahnke, etc. took over in 1999 it was a shot in the arm for Superman comics.
Love the channel, have you guys done an Kerin Dwier LCD episode?
The best thing about this comic is that it got me quoted in a kayfabe video. Seriously though, this is my first time seeing the actual book and its not as bad as I imagined. The cover image will always be like a tombstone for the heyday of 90s comics though.
I remember Wizard reviewing the Superman Adventures at this point in time & was cited as the best Superman comic of that era.
I think cool is a subjective term! While I didn't want them to do this in 1996, when they DID, I thought- okay, now commit to it. Stick to it. They didn't. I did think Grant Morrison made this version of Superman succeed in his JLA run with Howard Porter much more than the Superman creative team(s) did!
I still have a glow in the dark Electric Superman poster that I bought brand new from the comic shop in 1997.
Great episode!
It was at this time I remember general cinema when it was still in Texas was handing out Star Wars comic
I have a copy of this issue (unfortunately, the Dan Jurgens variant cover so no-glow in the dark). It was such a disappointment due to the wasted potential. Ironically, Grant Morrison did more interesting stuff with Electro-Supes in JLA at the time.
🤨Glow in the dark was cool,🧐 but when you turned the light back on and the book disappeared completely?🤯 Dope as. Now that's a gimmick!🤘
That doctor looks like John Glover!
I still think that costume's dope. I'm embarrassed to say it had a big influence on my drawing and design sense.
Oh man, this and spider clone made me tap out of comics for a good 10 years, glad i came back, but boy that was a dark time
I’ve recently begun acquiring a lot of older comics, often without the covers, so I’d just like to second Jim’s point about the first inside page (often a splash page) being just as good as if not better than the cover. That’s definitely been my take away.
Ron Frenz. K-mart. Mollet Superman. A lot of childhood memories in a single sentence. 😅
Superman: Electric Boogaloo
Meh. Mickey Mouse comics sell well in Europe. ;) (Though Donald is usually more popular, in a Bats - Super sort of way)
You guys did Akira a while ago. If you want to do more manga, could you do Yotsuba&!? It's about a green haired 5 year old girl who thinks that today is the funnest day. It has a lot of panels of modern Japan, right up your alley. Check it out!
Unleash The Frenz!
I love Ron Frenz's artwork, he's one of the later period artists who remind me of classic Marvel. I see a lot of Sal Buscema in his work.
When is Jim gonna do a glow in the dark comic?
Actually like the Electric Superman costume, but yeah such a jobber comic, Ron Frenz could not make those talking head panels interesting.
🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥
what's this about a death off superman bootleg?
❤
DC was at the forefront of that cheap paper + computer gradients look.
Most of the books in my Vertigo collection look like this.There's some great writing in some of them, but they're ugly as sin to look at.
I was a hardcore comic geek in my teens but by the time I hit my 20s in the early 90s I was out. My options were, spend money on bills and beer or comics. When I saw crap like this i knew I made the right decision.
Superman red and blue. WTF were they thinking? As a Superman fan I didn't think that was cool, I hated that crap. 😆
Superman will never be cool to me. Interesting, maybe, but never cool.
Step one: kill him, step two: resurrect him with a mullet, step three: change 100% everything about him. How to ruin an archetype in three easy steps.
Ew y'all paid for a book and it still had ads in it?